Please note: If you have a promotional code you'll be prompted to enter it prior to confirming your order.

Customer Sign In

Returning Customer

If you have an account, please sign in.

New Customers

If you subscribe to any of our print newsletters and have never activated your online account, please activate your account below for online access. By activating your account, you will create a login and password. You only need to activate your account once.

Fight fat to help your heart

You know you've put on weight when the bathing suit that fit perfectly last summer is now too tight and a lot less flattering. Weight gain is hard on the ego, but it's even harder on your heart—especially when that weight is centered around your middle.

Fat is dangerous to the heart, and not only because it increases the risk for conditions that contribute to heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The fat located in your abdomen—called visceral fat—lies deep enough to surround your organs and disrupt their function.

"The fat around the belly is particularly metabolically active, meaning that it produces a number of factors that increase the risks for heart disease," explains Dr. Paula Johnson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Those factors include hormones and other substances that promote inflammation, raise blood pressure, alter cholesterol levels, and interfere with normal blood vessel activity.

For older women, the risks of belly fat are particularly troubling, because the lack of estrogen after menopause changes the way fat distributes. Many of us transition from a pear shape (curvier hips and thighs) to an apple shape, which means more fat accumulates around our middle.

Subcutaneous fat is located just under the skin, while visceral fat lies deeper and can wrap around organs.

Waist size and heart risks

A tape measure is one of the most important diagnostic tools your doctor will use, because it could provide an early warning that you're headed for heart disease. Increased waist circumference—an indicator of abdominal fat—is part of a cluster of heart disease risks called metabolic syndrome. They include

waist measurement of 35 inches or more

triglyceride (blood fat) level of 150 mg/dL or higher

HDL ("good") cholesterol level of less than 50 mg/dL

blood pressure reading of 130/85 mm Hg or higher

fasting blood sugar level of 100 mg/dL or higher.

"If you have three of these risk factors, then you have metabolic syndrome. A waist circumference measurement can give you a really good idea of whether or not someone will meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome," Dr. Johnson says.

Waist-watching through the indulgent holiday season

Holiday food binges can set even the most faithfully healthy diet back by several months, and make you put on extra inches around your middle. You don't have to give up your turkey and pie this holiday season, provided that you make a few healthy modifications to them.

Peel the skin off your turkey and eat the white meat only—it's lower in fat than dark meat.

Add cornstarch and water to bird drippings instead of butter and flour to slim down your gravy.

Eat a whole-wheat roll instead of white. Dip it in olive oil rather than spreading on butter.

Cut your normal pie slice in half to save on calories. Top it with a small spoon of reduced-fat whipped topping or frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.

Beating belly fat

Here are a few tips for banishing this particularly unhealthy type of fat:

Cut back on candy, cookies, and white bread. "Eating a large number of simple carbohydrates—sugars and simple starches—increases central obesity because they're broken down very quickly. You get a burst of insulin, and this stimulates the production of central body fat," Dr. Johnson says.

Trim portion sizes. Keep calories in check by cutting large restaurant meals in half or even thirds, and by serving dinners at home on a salad plate.

Go low on the glycemic index. Compose the bulk of your meals from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Many of these foods are low on the glycemic index, meaning your body breaks them down slowly, leaving you feeling full for longer.

Daily Health Tip

Reconsider frozen fruits and vegetables

Fresh fruits and veggies usually pack the most punch nutritionally, but frozen produce can be a great alternative. Frozen fruits and vegetables have similar levels of vitamins and other important nutrients as fresh produce. Try a mix of fresh and frozen each week for the perfect balance between price, convenience, and health.